Motorhome Insurance claim, 'not much fun' (1 Viewer)

[Brian Hankins]

Not sure if I'm being a bit thick with this question but would appreciate some feedback.

Returning from Spain at the end of October, travelling from Haro (Rioja capital) to Santander our fridge door flew open breaking the hinge and pulling the wires out connecting the door control panel to the fridge.
We decided that we would claim against our insurance policy, taken out with the Caravan and Motorhome Club, the C&MC then inform Devitts, who then pass onto AXA, the underwriters. No problem so far! I agreed with AXA that I could use a local company to look at the problem and get a quote, which I did and they were very good. AXA then sent an insurance assessor to look at the fridge and take photographs. All parties agreed that the fridge needed replacing at a cost of around £1500 + VAT and labour.
At the beginning of November I purchased a Motor-scooter and trailer to tow on the back of my motorhome, I also had to insure the bike which I did through Bennets, specialist motorbike insurers, that give 90 days insurance cover in Europe per trip, so ideal for multiple trips.
A couple of days ago I had notification from Bennets that they required another £35 to insure the scooter because they had been informed of an outstanding claim from another insurer. I eventually found out that the claim I had put in for the fridge was the outstanding claim that would affect the motorbike insurance. My fault to an extent, I suppose but it didn't cross my mind that a fridge door falling off in transit on my motorhome would impact on my motorbike insurance. Apparently there is a database that is shared by insurance companies to check on outstanding claims.
Sorry this is getting a boring now, to cut to the chase, should a claim on a fridge or anything that is part of the habitation of the motorhome impact on the insurance of a totally different vehicle? Should the Caravan & Motorhome Club and its partners be looking at the type of claim before putting it into their Claims database? I suppose it will also now impact on our car insurance when it is due!
Am I being paranoid or are my feelings of being ripped off genuine? The other question is I always say do not share my personal information but hey that's gone out the window too.

 

[Puddleduck]

I'm afraid the fridge claim will affect your other insurance premiums. Even if you don't claim you are supposed to inform your insurers and that also increases subsequent premiums.

Do you know why there was a problem with the fridge door? Just wondering of it should be a warranty fix.

 

[DavidG58]

I would imagine the fridge door only flew off its hinges, like mine did, because like me you forgot to lock it

I know insurance may well cover all risks, but I decided in my embarrassment to fix it myself, would never have thought of claiming on insurance though TBH

but I wouldn't claim anything under about £2K not worth the knock on consequences, but we do also always benefit from reduced premiums for opting for maximum XS

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[Riverbankannie]

I agree with David. It’s not only this year it affects but every year for every vehicle for 5 years.

 

[ramsthom]

Last year we suffered hailstone damage to one side and the roof of the motorhome on a campsite in France. Safeguard our insurer were excellent in dealing with the claim. When we collected it after the repair I expected to pay the excess on the policy but the repairer informed us no payment of the excess was necessary as Safeguard had determined weather damage and a none driving fault. On renewal 6 months later the price had only increased by £15. On renewal of my car policy with Churchill I informed them of the motorhome claim but it did not affect the renewal price.
I suppose the deciding factor is did you have to pay an excess for the fridge replacement, if so contact your insurance and ask them if it was classed as a driving fault.

 

[Derbyshire wanderer]

In 2011 I had a windscreen chip repaired at no cost to me but when I renewed the policy (and never mentioned the repair) they contacted me to say I had not declared an accident claim
It didn’t noticeably alter the price but they were more than clear that failure to notify them could have had big consequences if I had claimed on a renewal that didn’t declare material facts

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[TheBig1]

that is how motor vehicle insurance has always worked. the vehicle was in motion and an insecure load (fridge contents) which moved and caused the damage. might sound ridiculous, but it is a fault claim which you are legally bound to mention on ALL motor vehicle policies for 5 years

 

[jaygee]

I had an issue with renewal of my house insurance. On renewal - I said I had had no claims and they came back to me saying yes you have and it turned out a claim I had on my holiday insurance was logged on the system and so it affected my house insurance. Doesn't seem fair :-(

 

[chaser]

£1500 for a fridge door no wonder the premiums go up

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[TheBig1]

£1500 for a fridge door no wonder the premiums go up

have you seen the new fridges and their cost recently. all electronics and so much to go wrong

 

[chaser]

have you seen the new fridges and their cost recently. all electronics and so much to go wrong

My lad just bought a new fridge for his self build £350

 

[chaser]

Sorry £250
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=391830586504&globalID=EBAY-GB

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[pappajohn]

Minor claims, (which at £1500 plus labour this certainly ain't) keep yer gob shut or expect higher premiums on EVERY insurance premium you hold.

 

[gus-lopez]

Sorry £250
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=391830586504&globalID=EBAY-GB

I've a 60l one of them here that was only used for 2 months, before it packed up on 240v & gas wasn't any use either.Tell him to make sure that he can remove it for when it plays up.
make sure he tests it before installing & ensure that the gas flame is correct height as many look ok but don't cool correctly. The electric element is another thing that packs up & needs replacing.

 

[Decaf]

Sorry this is getting a boring now, to cut to the chase, should a claim on a fridge or anything that is part of the habitation of the motorhome impact on the insurance of a totally different vehicle?

Your MH insurance policy obviously relates to a 'motorised vehicle' - and so your Fridge claim is recorded on the database as such, hence the subsequent issue with your 'motorised scooter' insurance.
Likewise, a previous claim against a non motorised policy would not have affected your scooter policy.

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[joka250]

My limited knowledge is that the small print on all or most policies includes a statement to effect that the company has the right to share information about you. It is primarily to combat fraud and in theory keep down premiums.

 

[JJ]

Insurance Companies = Bandits in suits...

I blame Thatcher.


JJ

 

[The Wino]

Never bother claiming I bet the extra premiums over the next few years add up to near enough the claim and hassle when renewing. I always go for a high voluntary excess as I know I am unlikely to claim and would sooner have cheaper premiums.

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[jumartoo]

People may slate Spain for many things but motorhome insurance here (for us at least) has been brilliant. They arranged an ambulance with nurse to transport Martin back to Totana from Zaragoza when he had an accident not related to travelling and didn't even ask for proof we were away in the motorhome! No increase in premiums either!

 

[Techno]

I get my premiums down by getting the maximum possible voluntary excess. No way would I claim for anything minor, it would take an almost total loss for me to claim.

 

[jezport]

Its quite simple. If you've had a claim no matter how small, be it a glass claim or a non fault claim you do need to tell your insurers. Theres no grey area here.

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[jezport]

I get my premiums down by getting the maximum possible voluntary excess. No way would I claim for anything minor, it would take an almost total loss for me to claim.

I thought that about voluntary excess, but one time I reduced the excess to zero and the premium dropped. It was on one of the insurance search sites ans it was an anomaly/error. i took the insurance and 3 weeks later they sent me a message saying they had made an error on the premium but would stick to their price. I paid £263 instead of over £500.
So now I always run the searches with different excesses and sometimes it barely makes a difference between a 200xs and a 400xs

 

[Minxy]

If you have made a claim against ANY motor insurance policy you must declare it when taking out another policy for any motor vehicle, they're the 'rules'.

We had to have a windscreen replaced due to a stone hitting it and another chip fixed and despite them being not our fault on some policy quote requests we had to say they WERE our fault as it was claimed against our own insurance and not another party's, so regardless of the fact that you didn't have a problem with the scooter the MH claim will be reflected in your scooter's premium.

I would be interested to know HOW your fridge door came to fly open though ... was the catch on? Did it break/release for some reason, or had you forgotten to put in on in the first place? It also intrigues me as to how such a large amount of damage was done if it only swung open so maybe there was a design fault?

 

[Techno]

Must have been hinged at the leading edge, most are hinged at the rear edge so it will slam shut on braking

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[Minxy]

Must have been hinged at the leading edge, most are hinged at the rear edge so it will slam shut on braking

Maybe, but I suspect most of the time its simply hinged according to the ease of use in relation to the layout.

 

[Techno]

Unfortunately not
I had to replace mine to make it kitchen friendly but of course you must check it is secure before travelling

 

[Minxy]

Unfortunately not
I had to replace mine to make it kitchen friendly but of course you must check it is secure before travelling

We had the same with our Rapido fridge (new in 2003) but I just swapped the door round, although I remember it was a sod trying to get the bottom securing bolt out as I didn't want to remove the fridge ... took me ages to undo it then even longer to get it back in again! I assume your's wasn't the type that allowed the hinges to be altered later?

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[two]

I regard insurance as cover against catastrophes only, preferring to underwrite everything else myself. If an underwriter, I’d be more wary of those who have claimed on any policy of any type in the past because they may be ‘accident prone’. I think you may express surprise that a prior claim should affect your perceived risk to make another, but I don’t think you should be accused of concealment in this case. It does not seem unreasonable that your subsequent contributions into the ‘insurance pot’ should be increased a bit. The recovery of the consequences has to be achieved somehow.

 

[Techno]

Yes we could have but I invested in a later model that is self latching and bigger capacity. Then had two years of warranty issues with Dometic who failed to fix it in the end. That’s all another story and is documented here somewhere

 

[Minxy]

Yes we could have but I invested in a later model that is self latching and bigger capacity. Then had two years of warranty issues with Dometic who failed to fix it in the end. That’s all another story and is documented here somewhere

Oh how I dream of a bigger capacity fridge/freezer ...

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